Jesper De Jong is the winner of the third Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup, the tournament organized by Master Group Sport in collaboration with the Emilia Romagna Region which concluded today on the central court of the Sporting Club Sassuolo. The Dutch tennis player therefore enters his name in the roll of honor alongside those of the Croatian Borna Coric (winner in 2022) and the Frenchman Alexandre Muller (2023). In the final, De Jong, a revelation of the tournament since the first round in which he eliminated the holder Muller, prevailed 76 61 against the number 4 seed, the German Daniel Altmaier.
A match that had “history” only in the first half won at the tie break by the Dutchman who, having started tense, struggled to get into the match rhythm. Down a break (2-4) he then managed to break Altmaier’s serve, forcing the set to a tie break won 7-5 thanks to a solid first serve (at the end of the match the percentage of points won with serving will be by 80%). In the second set Altmaier, noticeably declining perhaps due to the three and a half hour “marathon” the day before against Coria, was unable to oppose the solidity and freshness of the 24 year old from Harleem who thus took home the most important trophy of his still young career.
«It was a tiring week, but at the same time fantastic – the words of the winner – I thank my coach, the fans in the stands, the organization of the tournament which was impeccable. My goal is to enter the top 100 by the end of the year and this victory gives me great impetus to move up the rankings and be confident ahead of the Wimbledon qualifiers which I will start next Monday.”
In the doubles tournament comes the success story of an Italian tennis player Marco Bortolotti, 33 years old
Reggiolo (RE), who paired with the Australian Matthew Christopher Romios overtook the Americans
Seggerman/Thrac with the score of 76 26 11-9 in the decisive super tie break. Bortolotti is the first Italian to
enter the name in the roll of honor of the Emilia-Romagnna Tennis Cup. Awarding the athletes in Sassuolo were the general director of Master Group Sport Antonio Santa Maria and Giammaria Manghi, head of the political secretariat of the Presidency of the Emilia Romagna Region who supports Master Group Sport in organizing the event.
«We have been offering the Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup for several years now – Manghi’s words – We are at the epilogue of a very important week both from the point of view of the tennis profile and for public participation: the best prelude to what will be the Davis Cup event in September. Our sporting proposal, in the wake of the Sport Valley, is oriented towards promoting the territory. I am doubly happy for the victory of a tennis player from Emilia in the doubles tournament. The roll of honor of this tournament has important names from international tennis, the fact that for the first time there is an Italian, and from our region, confirms the tennis growth of our region for passion, participation and proposal of events like this oriented towards promoting the territory. Ours is a great land of sports and performers, even in tennis.”
